Santa Neji
by notesonlife
Summary: There are only a few things Tenten wants for Christmas, and this year, it’s Santa Neji. A collection of Christmas themed vignettes. [NejiTen] [5. 'Peppermint.' Days just get a whole lot better with a certain kunoichi and a candy cane.]
1. Santa

_Notes: Done in the holiday spirit. For the 12christmas LJ. Please enjoy. (:_

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**Santa Neji**

She grinned toothily, gazing at the line of girls waiting by the door. He watched as she counted the customers.

Neji should have refused.

But then again, Neji never refuses what she asks.

The Hyuuga analyzed the line, after hn-ing to some other girl's request to sleep wit her. There were barely any boys on the line, most of them teenage girls that wore outfits quite... skimpy.

"Tenten."

Tenten turned, slightly, the elf hat she wore jingling. She was dressed in a cute elf costume, equipped with the jingling hat, green skirt and leggings that showed off her shinobi legs. However, it wasn't quite as embarrassing as Neji's getup.

Neji was clad head to toe with red fabric, lined with white cotton, so white it matched his eyes, as the fake beard trailed across his chin. It was also Tenten's brilliant idea to make this Santa _not_ fat, as Ino and Sakura helped make the outfit form fitting, showing off the lean muscles from the constant training sessions. Thus, hoards of fangirls waited outside the door of the little decorated living room, as Sakura and Ino were outside, clad in the same elf costume as Tenten collecting money.

"Nuh uh, Santa, call me your elf helper."

Neji glared at the teasing girl, before she came over nonetheless.

"What do you need Santa?"

"Lunch break."

Tenten tsked, shaking her head playfully, "Santa works around the clock, there is no lunch break."

Neji raised an eyebrow, as another rabid fangirl tried to jump on him much to his grimace. The other elf helpers pulled off the girl, shutting the door behind the foaming girl, panting from the strenuous work.

"We're taking a break!" Kiba yelled at the older boy, stretching his sore muscles in his green elf outfit. The elves (nine shinobi to be precise) left the room, leaving Tenten alone with Neji.

There was banging on the door, before Naruto yelled from the other room, "Santa's on a lunch break!"

Neji glared at Tenten, as she toyed around with his beard. "Why am I doing this?"

"Because your pretty eyes attract money."

"Why do we need money?" Neji said, his voice irritated. If Tenten desperately needed money, she could have asked him. But they both knew, Tenten loved to see Neji in a Santa costume.

"To fund a Christmas party at Kiba's and Naruto's pad."

"Get Naruto to be Santa."

"Yes, but he won't attract as many customers as you will, Neji," Tenten cooed, pulling off the elf hat. Neji stared at the kunoichi before sighing.

The kunoichi slyly sat on his lap, batting her eyelashes at the boy.

"Neji... do you know what I want for Christmas?" she asked mischievously, leaning in closer to him. The Hyuuga hid back a smile, desperately looking another way, away from her. But it was so damn hard to resist those chocolate eyes.

He glanced over, almost pouting at the stupid scheme in the first place. Why did _he_ have to be Santa for a party he wouldn't even attend? His hand dropped around her waist as she kissed his cheek.

"Hn..." he grunted half-heartedly.

"I want Santa Neji," she smirked, as he turned his head to receive her kiss.

"No fraternizing with your elves, Santa!" Naruto yelled from the doorway, jolting the two away from each other.

Neji glared at the blond idiot as Tenten blushed and picked up her hat.

The other nine shinobi smirked watching from the doorway.

"Finally, Neji and Tenten have combined their spring of youth to heat up this winter!" Lee yelled, causing Tenten to flush harder.

Neji pouted, as the snickering Kiba opened the door to more fangirls.

Just when being Santa had a good point.


	2. Snowball Fight

_Notes: For the 12christmas LJ. _

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**Snowball Fight  
**

Tenten giggled. She ran through the snow, picking up pieces of white fluff and mashing them together, running towards her fortress. Her gloved fingers worked quickly, until a round ball of snow was in her hands. She stopped, ducking, before spinning around and hitting Hyuuga Neji square in the jaw.

A smirk grew on her face in triumph, as she shoveled more snow in her hand and molded it.

"We're on the same team!" Neji growled.

"Oops sorry," she lied, before sliding behind her fortress as an avalanche of snow quickly beat against her walls.

"Hurry up Neji!"

The taller boy grunted, regretting joining the game in the first place. But how could he resist Tenten's adorable pouts?

"We have entered the winter of youth! Attack my minions!" the shrill yell of Lee resounded through the crisp air as brown creatures bounced through the snow towards the other sides of the battle field.

Neji finally ducked behind the walls as the squirrels attacked with hard-earned acorns.

Tenten let out a battle cry before launching snowball after snowball to the other sides.

"Tenten! Our fortress of youth is breaking!" Lee yelled, giving Neji a rather annoying migraine. He would rather be in his room sipping tea then out here in the snow with two loud (but one of them incredibly cute) snow maniacs.

"We can't rebuild it, they would hit us while we're weak!"

"What should we do?!"

"Neji!" The taller boy looked up at Tenten, her cheeks rosy from the cold, her clothes littered with snow. Her hair was ruffled, as strands of chocolate brown escaped the two customary buns.

"Go out there and block the snowballs while we rebuild the fort!"

"What?"

Tenten roughly shoved the Hyuuga prodigy out into the midst of the warfare.

"They're surrendering their own!" the laughter of the other three teams filled his ears as snowballs launched at him at incredible speed.

"Very well," he murmured, taking his stance.

In a few moments, he had performed Kaiten.

All was quiet, as everyone watched the snow melt in a crater by Neji's feet.

"Aw, Neji you ruined the game!" Tenten whined. "Thanks a lot."


	3. Decoration

_Notes: Again, for the 12christmas LJ. Please enjoy._

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**Ornaments**

She sighed, brushing the chocolate brown bangs out of her eyes as she sat on the floor, surrounded by boxes. Tangled in a mess of wire and bulbs were the Christmas lights she was supposed to unravel. The little plastic tree lying horizontal on the floor did not stand up by itself. Baubles rolled across the wooden floor, as tinsel lay in a heap in the corner. She had sat on the floor for more than half an hour, staring at the ingredients needed to make a Christmas tree.

Tenten had spent an hour scourging her tiny apartment for the supplies, before rushing out and buying some she didn't have. She had skipped training to decorate her little apartment for the Christmas season, only to find herself stuck and confused.

Even skilled weapon specialists need a little help decorating.

The doorbell rang as an idea sprang in her head, before it deteriorated as the bell continued angrily. She sighed, standing up and stretching her lower backside.

"I'm coming..." she yelled as she walked to the door but the bell did not stop. She threw it open irritably.

Hyuuga Neji stood on her doorstep, his brows furrowed in anger, and his left eye twitching.

"You didn't show up to training," he said before she could even blink.

"Oh... Neji! Um..." Tenten fumbled. "You see... well..."

Neji glared at her, a tight frown on his lips.

"I had to stay home... and decorate for..." she trailed off without meeting his gaze.

She could feel his glare still on her before an irritated sigh left his mouth.

"If I help you decorate, then you will come to training?"

Tenten's eyes widened as they met his.

"Uh... yeah...I guess so..."

She moved aside for Neji to come in. His eyes scanned his surroundings and his supplies as a skilled shinobi would a mission briefing. His movements were sharp as if this was an A-ranked mission and not a winter morning to decorate Tenten's apartment. Tenten expected Neji's Byakagun to flare, scouring for a bomb under the heap of tinsel.

"Untangle the lights," he commanded and Tenten scurried over to the lights as Neji walked towards the tree. She stopped as she stared at the lights, before picking up the big mess.

She was still looking for one end when Neji had finished setting the tree upright. He had come up behind her silently as a ninja usually does.

"You're not done yet?"

The kunoichi jumped slightly, before spinning around.

"Neji!"

The boy raised an eyebrow, before taking the bundle from her hands. Quickly, he picked out one end and he gave it to her. Their hands met for a little too long and Tenten blushed slightly as she pulled her hand away and Neji began to unravel the lights.

He tested the lights as Tenten gathered the baubles together. The two worked in silence, as they wrapped the tree in the colored bulbs.

After the tinsel was placed on the tree's boughs, only the baubles were left.

To make it quick and simple, Tenten would hand each colored ball to Neji and he would hang it up. The silence was killing her, as they had worked one hour straight without saying a word to each other and themselves.

"I'm going to put some music on," she said, standing up to turn on the radio.

Christmas music filled the air as Tenten handed him the next bauble. She watched him gaze at the tree, scrutinizing it then placing the bauble gingerly on each branch. The look in his eyes and his carefulness made a small knowing smile grace her lips.

Neji liked Christmas.

Gradually, the uneasiness between them subsided as Neji's irritation at her neglect and Tenten's awkwardness of having the irrepressible Hyuuga Neji over diminished as each song ended and a new one began.

Tenten began to hum along to the melody, and Neji's sharp movements began to dull.

He walked over to her, the last two baubles in her hands. He watched the kunoichi hum, her eyes closed and a smile on her lips. Lifting the baubles up, her eyes fluttered open from the light weights leaving her hands. He brought them to the two buns in her hair, the corners of his mouth lifting at the sight. She blushed prettily, as the music continued to play. No words were uttered and the distance between them lessened as he leaned towards her.

Tenten closed her eyes as she could feel him draw even nearer.

She remembered the first time Neji had kissed her, back in their Genin days. It was awkward, but quickly forgotten on Neji's part, leaving Tenten to push the event away to the recesses of her mind.

Her lips puckered slightly in remembrance, and her cheeks turned a rosy pink. A smirk grew on the taller boy's lips, as he moved so close their noses were almost touching.

His exhale ghosted over her lips, causing her heartbeat to pound in her chest. A moment passed, and Tenten dared not open her eyes, waiting for that long wanted kiss.

"Go get some more tinsel," he breathed, his lips brushing hers as he took the baubles away and walked back to the tree to place them on the boughs.


	4. Snow

_Notes: Crappy one-shots are fun to make. (:_

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**Winter Wonderland**

The crackling of leaves of autumn under her feet filled her with dominance and control. The heat in the summer made her work harder, sweat faster, and gave her personal gratification of the sweet cold air brushing against her skin. And the rain in the spring pounded upon her, provided training in harsher environments to increase her skill. But they could not compare to winter.

Preferably, the snow.

Her chocolate brown eyes fluttered open, as she jumped out of bed towards the window. A grin curled across her lips as she stared at white expanses covering the fields like a blanket. She pulled on heavy clothes, covering her neck with a thick scarf and her fingers with black gloves. She clasped her weapon pack (now not only one simple pouch, but a sleek black belt with different pouches to hold different weapons) around her slim waist before heading outside.

Hyuuga Neji found his old Genin teammate in the snow. Sitting childishly in the white fluff, a kunai held perfectly in one hand as she slashed at the white powder in front of her into even smaller fragments, an unearthly smile on her lips, her cheeks red from the cold. She looked like a little child, bundled warmly in cloth, playing with toys and with snow. He hid a smile, as he watched her lay down in the snow, moving her arms and legs frantically, before hopping out of the form she made in the snow.

A sixteen-year-old Tenten had made a snow angel.


	5. Candy Cane

_Notes: Wow, an update. Basically, for the first four, I just combined all my little one-shots to make one gigantour Christmas thing. Brilliant, eh? (: A fluffy little thing because I felt like it._

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**Peppermint**_  
_

"Tenten."

"Hm?" Tenten looked up, her head tilted to the side as Neji stared at her.

"What are you eating?"

Tenten smiled, pulling out the peppermint, "A candy cane."

"Why?"

The weapon specialist rolled her eyes, "I don't need a reason to eat a candy cane. It's just holiday spirit."

Neji nodded, looking down at the kunai in her hand. She was sharpening her latest one, as the tip of the candy cane was in her mouth.

Tenten looked up, feeling his eyes on her.

"Wanna help me up, Neji?"

Neji stood, extending a hand. She took it, as he pulled her up, the kunoichi brushing off the dirt from the seat of her pants.

She smiled, pulling out the minty snack again, making her fingers sticky.

"You want some?"

Neji blinked, as she walked closer.

He stiffened as the repulsive stick of candy hovered in front of his eyes. No way was he going to touch the candy, even though it had been in Tenten's mouth, he despised peppermint.

"No."

Tenten shrugged, sucking on it again before commenting, "It's good."

The taller boy raised an eyebrow. Tenten smirked leaning in and pecking him on the lips and his mouth opened hungrily, before she shoved in the candy cane.

He sucked on it, watching her grin impishly.

Peppermint wasn't so bad, really.


End file.
